A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an archive management system for electronic mail messages and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for archiving electronic mail messages and accessing archived messages.
B. Description of the Related Art
Many data processing systems permit transmission of electronic mail (xe2x80x9cemailxe2x80x9d) messages between various users of the system. A standard feature of all email messages is the presence of a xe2x80x9cheader.xe2x80x9d The header portion of an email message typically contains information about the source of the message, its subject, and its destination. The protocol for email headers over the Internet is defined in D. H. Crocker xe2x80x9cStandard for the format of ARPA Internet text messages,xe2x80x9d RFC 822 (August 1982) (xe2x80x9cRFC 822xe2x80x9d), which is incorporated herein by reference.
The transportation and delivery of email messages can be divided into two categories. The first category is the submission and receipt of messages between a client and an email post office. The second category is the routing of email messages from one post office to another.
There are currently two Internet standards for the submission and receipt of email messages between a client and a post office. One standard is known as xe2x80x9cPost Office Protocol version 3xe2x80x9d (xe2x80x9cPOP3xe2x80x9d) and the other is known as xe2x80x9cInternet Message Access Protocol version 4 revision 1xe2x80x9d (xe2x80x9cIMAP4rev1xe2x80x9d). POP3 allows a client to connect to a post office server in order to check for new email messages in the client""s mail account and to read header information. In order for a client to read an email message using the POP3 standard, the client needs to download the message to a local directory. The primary features of POP3 are described in M. Rose xe2x80x9cPost Office Protocolxe2x80x94Version 3xe2x80x9d RFC 1081 (November 1988) and M. Rose xe2x80x9cPost Office Protocolxe2x80x94Version 3 Extended Service Offeringsxe2x80x9d RFC 1082 (November 1988), both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
IMAP4rev1 differs from POP3 in the sense that a client does not have to download an email message to the client""s local directory from the post office server in order to read it. IMAP4rev1 allows a client to perform all of the client""s mailbox functions with the message retained on the post office server. The features of IMAP4rev1 are described in M. Crsipin xe2x80x9cInternet Message Access Protocolxe2x80x94Version 4rev1xe2x80x9d RFC 2060 (December 1996), which is incorporated herein by reference. This particular feature of IMAP4rev1 is shared by many proprietary electronic mail systems, such as GroupWise from Novell, Inc. In GroupWise, when a post office receives a message for a given client, it is stored in a database in encrypted form in a mailbox designated for the client. The client is then notified that there is a new message. A configuration with all client mailboxes located on one post office server has the advantage of allowing an administrator to perform tasks associated with managing the server, including the deletion of old messages.
One of the most direct means of making a message available to a number of individuals is to send the message to each individual by including his/her electronic mail address in the header""s destination address field such as the xe2x80x9cToxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cCCxe2x80x9d fields. One could also send the message to an automated mailing list manager that uses a mail exploder to turn a single alias for a distribution list into a series of individual mail addresses, or may forward the message to space dedicated to the distribution list on the post office server and accessible by all client members of the list. Mailing list managers such as LISTSERV of L-Soft International, Inc., listproc, and majordomo allow a client to subscribe or unsubscribe to a given mailing list.
POP3 and IMAP4rev1 also support public mailing lists, or distribution lists. When a message arrives and is addressed to a public distribution list, the post office server either uses a mail exploder to forward copies of the message to the mailboxes of list members or forwards a copy of the message to space specifically dedicated to the distribution list on the post office server that is accessible to all members. The post office server then notifies the respective clients that a message is being retained. The public distribution lists for these systems are generally maintained by an administrator.
The administrator also implements a message archive for archiving copies of incoming and/or outgoing messages for an enterprise. Due to the pervasiveness of email correspondence, an email message archive can contain thousands of messages. Because of the large number of designated clients, the overwhelming number of stored messages, and security concerns, access to such a message archive has been limited only to the administrator. Without completely reproducing the post office server and without the intervention of the administrator to impose some structure on the archive, an individual client cannot effectively sort the email messages located in the archive.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method that overcomes the shortcomings of existing electronic mail systems.
Systems and methods consistent with the present invention provide an automated manager for an electronic mail archive repository. A method of archiving electronic messages consistent with the present invention creates a repository that holds all electronic messages consistent with rules for archive storage. An interface allows clients to retrieve selected electronic messages from the repository based upon rules for limiting access to the repository.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, methods and systems, as broadly described herein, comprise a message archive containing a plurality of messages, each having a client identifier and an archive token, and permit a requester access to selected messages in the message archive based on an identifier for the requester and consistent with rules for archive retrieval.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, methods and systems, as embodied and broadly described herein, comprise the steps of receiving a message, storing the message in a message archive when an indication exists to archive the message, and permitting a requester access to selected messages in the  less than message archive based on an identifier for the requester. Predetermined rules may be used to indicate when messages are to be archived and to control access to archived messages.